Birds of a Feather
by Aurora Wright
Summary: I started writing this series when S2 ended but after rewriting it, it should fit after S3. Going back to London, the Doctor meets a teenager who'll make a life-changing discovery because of his arrival...


Jasmine McRymes closed the white curtains after one last look out onto the city, to stop the sunlight from blinding her. The girl was dressed in a pair of jean shorts and a red top, which matched the red highlights in her almost golden hair. She'd had it that way since she was very little; she had always wanted it, even though she never had a specific reason for it. Around her neck was a necklace, but the pendant was hidden under her top.

"Has he woken up yet?"

Jasmine turned around to look at the black-haired woman who had just entered. She was holding a patient's chart and was dressed in a white doctor's coat. Jasmine took her seat next to the hospital bed in which her uncle, Will McRymes, lay. He was usually a very intelligent and lively man, but now he lay still, and it frightened Jasmine. His hair was slightly grey and his eyes were closed shut. His big mustache was also almost grey. That morning there had been a terrible accident; three buses had crashed into each other for unknown reasons. There had been several deaths, amongst them the three drivers and Will. He was pretty badly injured which was why they were now in the hospital.  
Martha Jones was checking Jasmine's uncle while taking notes when a man walked in. He was dressed in a long light brown overcoat and had brown hair. Under his overcoat was a dark brown pinstripe suit, shirt and tie. Underneath it, he had a pair of cream-coloured Converse All Stars. Quite an odd combination, but Jasmine thought it didn't look weird or anything. Martha looked up and seemed surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here?"  
"Checking up on you. Found anything?" Martha dragged him out of the room. "You know, it's sort of odd…"

The man continued but right at that point Martha closed the door and Jasmine could hear him no longer. She shrugged it off and looked at her uncle. Though he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, Jasmine knew that things weren't good.

The door opened and Jasmine had expected it to be Martha again, but it was Tyson Zedekiah, her best friend. The bright smile usually on his face had disappeared. Instead there was a look of worry on his face. His brown ear length hair was disheveled, like an out of bed look and his green eyes twinkled mysteriously in the light.

They had summer holiday, and they'd both expected it to be great, but instead it had turned out to be anything but that. When it ended, Jasmine would be going to university, a couple of miles from London, too far away to meet up with Tyson every day. Tyson was at university too, but in London so that he still lived at home.

"You need to get out of here…"

"No…" Jasmine shook her head, looking at her friend. "I have to stay with him."  
"You'll drive yourself mad… Come on, you can come back later."

He grabbed her hand, determined as he was, and took her with him. Outside on the corridor Martha was still talking to the man, but they fell silent as the pair of them walked past, Jasmine dragged by Tyson. They went out of the hospital, hoping to take her mind off of things.

The ceiling Jasmine stared up at was painted a black/blue colour and it displayed the solar system, with all of its planets and the lamp in the middle being the sun. Jasmine could name all the planets, and their moons; she loved astronomy. This was Tyson's room though, as he too loved it. Astronomy and alien stuff were his obsessions. His blankets, the ones she lay on, had ET on them. He'd had them from when he was a little kid, but he had never parted with them. Posters and articles about aliens and astronomy were plastered all over the walls. The only sound came from Tyson, typing on his computer.  
Jasmine sprung to her feet and walked to the bookcase, running her fingertips down the back of the books as she had done many times before. He had all sorts of stuff, from astronomy to aliens, to fictional books. She wasn't looking for a particular book, just a random one that seemed interesting would do. She turned around though as she felt Tyson's eyes burn at her back.

"What?" she wondered.  
"Nothing." he replied with a smile, not too long afterwards a frown appeared on his face.  
"Is it supposed to do that?"

He pointed at Jasmine's necklace, which was radiating a black light. It was a round gold pendant, like a coin, with a bird on it: a Phoenix. Jasmine took it off to look at it and frowned herself.

"It's not usually black…"  
"You mean it does that often?" Tyson raised his brow.

Jasmine nodded and touched the pendant. She quickly pulled away, wincing.

"What is it?" Tyson looked worried again and he got to his feet.  
"It's hot."

A frown was at her face and she blew air at her finger to cool it down. Then it stopped; the black light was gone, as if it had never been there.

"Odd." Jasmine spoke, flipping the pendant around to examine it.  
"Maybe it's alien." Jasmine rolled her eyes at her friend.  
"Don't be ridiculous. My mum gave it to me. It belonged to my dad."  
"Well, maybe he was alien."  
"Oi!" Jasmine hit him on the arm. Then she sat down, looking at the necklace in her hand. "He wasn't alien. He was a great man…"  
"Yeah, very great. Leaving a pregnant woman like he did."

Tyson sat down next to Jasmine. She gave him an angry look and he threw her an apologizing one after seeing it. She put the necklace back around her neck and smiled.

"He must've had a good reason."

Tyson shrugged, he wasn't so sure about that. In his eyes, he'd just been a bastard, leaving his daughter and wife like that. Because Jasmine had never known her father and even though her brother was only three years older than her, Patrick didn't know her father either. They both had different fathers. Jasmine knew that because her mother did talk about Patrick's father, who had died when Patrick hadn't been born yet. Her mother had never talked about her father though. She had just always said that he had been a great man, unlike any other men. Tyson's father had left him too when he was about ten years old. Left one day and never returned, never even contacted him and his little brother since.

"Dinner was lovely, Mrs. Zedekiah."

They had just eaten dinner and Jasmine had stayed, because Tyson had insisted on it.

"See you tomorrow, Ty." he nodded and walked her to the door.  
"Sure you don't want a ride?"

Jasmine nodded and stepped outside. It was a dark night, with the exception of the streetlights. There were barely any stars up in the sky and the moon was half hidden between some clouds. The road was completely deserted.

"I'll manage."

Jasmine waved and started walking. She heard Tyson close the door. She headed into the direction of her own house, which wasn't too far away. She lived in an apartment with her brother, Patrick and her uncle. About ten years ago, her mother had suddenly died. Her uncle, who wasn't married and just liked to travel, had taken the responsibility of the two children and had taken care of them ever since. A shiver went down her back and she turned around. She had a creepy feeling that someone was following her.

"Stop being paranoid!."

Nonetheless, she quickened her pace. Then she felt the spot where her necklace was, getting hot again. She quickly took it off, stuffing it in her pocket. She just hoped it wouldn't burn its way through.  
The strange feeling remained inside of her. After walking for some minutes, she heard footsteps behind her. Then someone, or something, took her arm. She let out a scream and turned around.

"God! Ty! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

She sighed, relieved that it was him, and not someone else. Tyson smiled sheepishly and held up her jacket. It wasn't a very cold night, so she could've managed fine without it. She took it and pulled it on, because another shiver went down her back.

"I'll walk you home."  
"You don't have to." Jasmine said, looking sideway to him.  
"I want to."  
"Oh…" then there was a silence.

A cold heartless, evil laugh echoed through the air, stopping Jasmine and Tyson dead in their tracks.

"What was that?!" Tyson asked, slightly startled.

Jasmine shook her head, looking around, but she couldn't see anything.

"It was probably nothing."

Nonetheless, she grabbed his hand and turned to walk again. Jasmine gasped, as suddenly something seemed to fall from the sky. Unconsciously she squeezed Tyson's hand. Something landed in front of them. It had long black wings and a beak, like a raven. The rest of its body was clothed in a Robin Hood like costume, complete with hat. In front of its wings were human hands, and its feet seemed to be human too. It seemed to have the body of a human child, even its height, but some characteristic of a raven. Its head though, so Jasmine could see as the light fell upon it, seeming to be that of an adult. In its hand was a bow and arrow. Another cold laugh was heard and Jasmine could now see it came from the creature.

"I think it's alien." the fright immediately disappeared of off Jasmine's face as Tyson said this.  
"Oh, I see. Very funny."

Jasmine grinned as she walked closer to the creature. She'd now figured that this was all Tyson's doing. Tyson grabbed her arm to stop her and she saw him shake his head. His eyes were dead serious, telling her that he had nothing to do with it. The wings disappeared and it stretched the bow. It aimed at Tyson, who Jasmine could feel tensed. Then the creature fired and the arrow soared towards Tyson. In a split second Jasmine pushed him aside and they landed on the floor. Then there was a buzzing sound, followed by a screech from the creature. It spread its appearing wings and flew off. Jasmine turned to look at where the buzzing sound came from. She was just in time to see the end of a long brown coat disappear around the corner into an alley. A long cold laugh was heard again and as Jasmine looked up into the sky she could see the shadow of the creature, flying away in the night.

"There was a man…" Jasmine told Tyson when he helped her up.  
"Where?"

Jasmine pointed towards the alley and they walked into it. There was no one there, and it was a dead end. The only things where some trashcans, and other garbage. There were no doors at the sides of the houses and the brick wall that was at the end was too high and too smooth for anyone to climb over.

"You're getting delusional." joked Tyson.  
"I know what I saw!"

Jasmine followed Tyson out of the alley. She walked towards the arrow and picked it up, spinning it around her hands. It had an iron point at the front and it seemed sharp; she daren't touch it. At the end of it were little black feather, which seemed to come from the creature's wings.  
They said goodbye at Jasmine's apartment and she went inside. She went straight to her room, knowing that her brother was with their uncle. Or at least she figured he was there, seeing as he was just as upset about it as she was. He had taken care of them all these years, she couldn't handle it if she lost him too. Jasmine took the necklace from her pocket and put it on her night table, together with the arrow.

Jasmine slowly opened her eyes, yawning. She threw the blood red blankets of her. On the red were black tribal patterns, and she had matching pillows to go with it. The top, where she lay with her head, had several pillows. Some of them were the other way around with the color, but all tribal. Her room had a mysterious touch too it, with all kinds of thin transparent drapes, mostly coloured, all kinds of purple and red, hanging from one side of the ceiling to another and around her bed. Christmas lights hung all in them, giving it a mystic feel when those lights were on and the main light off.  
She got out of her bed and put on her slippers. Then she walked towards the bathroom to take a shower and locked the door.

Meanwhile, outside of Jasmine's room, there was someone, or rather something. The window was open and the creature hoisted itself up into the room as soon as the water of the shower was running. It wasn't hard to get in, seeing as the window was only about five feet above the ground. However, the creature was small, like a child, but it was strong. The creature almost toppled over onto the floor, but it managed to stay upright. Once inside it scanned the room, checking out its surroundings. It tiptoed to the night table as soon as it noticed the arrow. It was careful not to alert anyone in the house to its presence, especially not Jasmine. It snatched the arrow off the night table, knocking the lamp over in the process. In a swift movement, it caught the lamp, putting it back on the table. Then, instead of going back through the window, it turned to walk towards the door. It went through and checked the rooms for other humans. It got lucky in the kitchen; Patrick was there.

A scream was heard, startling Jasmine. She was still standing in the shower but turned the water off. She stepped onto the cold stone floor of the bathroom, quickly grabbing her dressing gown. Still dripping with water, she hurried towards the kitchen, leaving a trail of water all down the hall. She gasped as she saw Patrick on the floor, an arrow through his shoulder. Strangely enough, there was no blood. Jasmine hurried towards him and kneeled down, feeling his pulse. She found it and sighed of relief. She looked at his face, then at the arrow and swallowed. She took the end of it and pulled it out. Patrick sat up, gasping. However, something in his look was different than usual.

"Are you okay?"  
"I don't need your help!"

His voice sounded harsh and he pushed her aside, hard enough for her to stumble and fall. Helplessly Jasmine watched her brother storm out of the house. A man entered in the meantime, going by Patrick unnoticed. It was the same man as the one from the night before in the hospital, who had talked to Martha.

"Hello, I…"

He stopped as he realized that not everything was as it was supposed to be; a girl on the floor, dressed in a dressing gown. Then there was that guy storming out and the girl was holding an arrow.

"Who are you?" questioned Jasmine.

She crawled to her feet, forgetting for the moment that she was not even properly dressed.

"I'm… looking for that."

He snatched the arrow out of her hand and turned to leave. Jasmine ran passed him and closed the door.

"Not so fast." she crossed her arms and looked at him determinedly.  
"I'm Mr. Smith. Scientific researcher. I need this arrow to examine it."

Jasmine quirked her brow; she didn't believe a word of it. Usually people wouldn't just walk into someone's house, no matter what. He took a piece of paper out of his pocket, showing it to her. Jasmine quirked her brow at him.

"It's blank." The man, supposedly Mr. Smith, seemed surprised.  
"It is?" He asked, frowning as he looked at it himself.

It was as if he didn't even know what he'd showed her, even though he knew exactly what it was himself. Jasmine eyed the man, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The man decided on a different approach.

"Maybe, you'd want to get dressed before we start over."

Jasmine looked down, surprised. Her cheeks flashed a reddish colour and she jumped aside to let the man pass. He walked out and she looked after him.

"Mr. Smith!" she called after him; he turned around. "I think it did something to my brother. Can you help him?" A serious frown was at Mr. Smith's face.  
"I'll see what I can do!" He grinned broadly, and then walked off.

By the time Tyson arrived, Jasmine had gotten dressed and had repeatedly tried to call Patrick on his cell. She told Tyson everything, about what had happened to Patrick and about the strange man, Mr. Smith.

"I think we should go find him, Ty." Jasmine had a worried look on her face. Her brother just hadn't seemed himself.  
"And where do you suggest we would look? London is a big city, Jaz."

She knew her best friend was right, but she felt useless sitting here, doing nothing. She tossed her blonde hair back and rose, determined to do something. She headed to the door, but Tyson grabbed her arm.

"Where will you search?"  
"I don't know."

She pulled her arm away and left the house. Tyson followed her, holding her black jacket. She took it and pulled it on. Tyson walked next to her without asking where she was going. It didn't matter. If she wanted to do something, he'd follow her.

"Leave me alone!"

There was a voice. It seemed to come from the playground around the corner and they could hear it was that of a little boy. The two quickened their steps, and turned the corner. There he was, Patrick. He was opposite of a nine-year-old boy, one who Jasmine recognized as Jacey. He was somewhat small for his age, and shy, always had been. He had often been teased by other kids. Then Jasmine would stand up for him, playing with him so he didn't feel lonely.  
Jasmine had never seen Patrick like this before, and it scared her. Patrick was about to beat Jacey when Mr. Smith ran up from behind and slammed the arrow into Patrick's shoulder. Patrick screamed and collapsed. Jasmine also screamed, and then she put her hand in front of her mouth in shock. The man who was actually nothing more than a stranger was now bent over Patrick. Jasmine ran towards him, followed by Tyson. Jacey stood against the wall, terrified.

"What did you do to him?" Jasmine kneeled down, shooting an angry look towards Mr. Smith who stepped aside.  
"I saved his life." said Mr. Smith.  
"I'll get him home…" Tyson meant brining Jacey home. He walked off with the boy.  
"Patrick, wake up. Can you hear me? Pat!"  
"He won't wake up." announced Mr. Smith. He started lifting Patrick into his arms.  
"I'll take him. I'll fix him and bring him back. See ya."  
"Hang on, mister." Jasmine blocked his path, crossing her arms. "I'm not having a complete stranger take my brother, especially not when he needs a doctor."  
"Hi, I am the doctor." he walked round her and Jasmine gritted her teeth.  
"I'm coming with you." she followed him.  
"No you're not."  
"Yes, I am." she argued.  
"You don't give up, do you?" he stopped.  
"Nope." Jasmine said with a proud grin. He sighed.  
"Alright, your brother is not going to wake up until I find someone. If he does wake up, like when someone pulls out the arrow, he's going to hurt more people and eventually he will die."  
"How?" Jasmine stared at him, confused.  
"Well, the arrow has some sort of powder, causing something to flick on in his brain; touching his nerves and making him go crazy. Rage all inside of him."  
"You're mad…" was all Jasmine could say.  
"Might be. Even so, fact remains that he is going to die unless I find that person who can reverse the process."  
"Where will you find that person?" asked Jasmine as she tried to take everything in.  
"No clue." Jasmine stared, and then blinked.  
"You're telling me that my brother's life depends on it, and then you tell me you don't even know where this person is?"  
"He's safe." Tyson came walking back to them.  
"Yeah well, he's not." Jasmine nodded over to her unconscious brother.  
"Well, if you don't mind, I'm off."  
"I'm still coming with you." Jasmine told the doctor; this time he didn't argue.

He told them that he'd parked his vehicle in an alley nearby. The two of them threw him weird looks.

"Why don't you park it on the streets, like normal people?"  
"I don't think he's normal." noted Jasmine, the doctor ignored that.  
"Still, how is a car going to fit in a small alleyway with trash and all that?" the doctor looked at Tyson as if he was crazy.  
"Who said anything about a car?"

He quickened his pace into the alley, followed by two confused teenagers. He disappeared in a wooden box, standing in the middle of the alley. It was a peculiar blue thing and it had text written on it; 'police public call box.'

"How's a blue box going to help?" Jasmine quirked her brow as she stared at it.  
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Tyson, nailed to the ground. "I wonder what the inside is like!" he muttered excitedly.  
"It's never going to fit." said Jasmine while Tyson walked in.

After a couple of seconds, Tyson came hurrying back outside, causing Jasmine to raise a brow. Tyson stared, circling around the box and Jasmine rolled her eyes, pushing her way through the doors.  
Inside, she stopped dead in her tracks, staring around. She had ended up in a large circular room, too big to fit into the box. In the middle was some sort of panel with buttons, levers and screens. There was a glass tube sticking out of the middle.

"Are you alright?" the doctor asked carefully.  
"It's… bigger on the inside…" she walked around the console in the middle. "Mind you, what is it?"  
"It's my spaceship… The Tardis."  
"Tardis?" Jasmine frowned, looking at him.  
"Time and relative dimension in space."  
"Where's Patrick?" the doctor pointed at two chairs where he was lying.  
"Jaz!" called Tyson from outside.

Jasmine stuck her head outside, Tyson stood staring up at the box.

"Come inside."  
"No way! It's bigger on the inside!"  
"It is?!" Tyson shot her a look and she shrugged.  
"He's alien. That box is alien!"  
"I thought you believed in it?" Jasmine frowned.  
"I did! I do… But believing and seeing are two different things. I'm sorry." then he walked off. Jasmine retreated inside.  
"How…?"  
"… Does it fit?" the doctor finished her sentence and she nodded. "I can't tell you."  
"Right, well, mister Doctor."  
"Just the doctor."  
"Fine, Doctor, can you, or can you not help my brother?"  
"I can!"

A grin spread across his face while he ran towards the console, doing something on a screen. He then slammed his hand against it and cursed.

"Come on! I might be able…" He said, more to himself then to Jasmine. "Nah… or… Oh come on!" He slammed it again.  
"You're not alien by any chance, are you?"  
"What?" she threw him a weird look. "No!"  
"No! No! No!" he sounded annoyed, then his look changed. "Ooh, yes! Dertah." He started slamming down some levers.  
"What?"

Then suddenly the box started moving, shaking and Jasmine had to grab onto the railing so she wouldn't fall over. There was the sound of engines whirring. And something inside the tube had started moving up and down, causing the sound.

"What's happening?!"

Right as she asked that, it stopped and the doctor hurried outside.

"Doctor!" annoyed, Jasmine ran after him, but stopped as she was outside.  
"Wow… We moved."  
"Yes, we did. Now come on!"

Recovering from a slight shock, she hurried after him. Her necklace under the top started burning again and she winced, taking it off. She put it in her pocket and caught up with the Doctor. There was that heartless cold laugh again, sending shivers down her spine. When they turned the corner they saw it; the creature that had attacked Jasmine and Tyson the other night. They were too late to stop an arrow from hitting an old, frightened man, who fell unconscious. Then it turned around, aiming an arrow at Jasmine. She jumped aside to avoid it as the Doctor pointed something at it, the tip illuminating blue with a buzzing sound. The creature screeched and took off.  
Jasmine ran towards the old man and kneeled down, feeling for a pulse.

"Don't pull the arrow out!" warned the doctor.

Jasmine nodded and was about to comment this when something else came to her attention; the arrow was sticking out of the man's shoulder, like it had with Patrick.

"Why doesn't it aim for their hearts? Kill them instantly…"  
"They need their rage, they feed on it until it kills their victims." the doctor told her.  
"They're unconscious with the arrow. Why doesn't it pull it out?"  
"Oh, but they do. Except the one you saw, it went away because it was disturbed. Twice." Jasmine nodded understandingly.  
"And it's alien?"

She already knew the answer, but she needed confirmation. The doctor gave her that by nodding. She got to her feet, breathing out deeply. She had never believed in aliens, not really anyway. A part of her did believe in them, after what had happened in the past two years. That spaceship with Christmas, hovering over London, and before that that spaceship crashing into Big Ben. Then there were the monsters, those cyber-things.

"Come on; let's take him to the Tardis."

Jasmine nodded slightly, helping the doctor lift the old man up and bringing him to the Tardis.

"Who are you looking for anyway?"

Jasmine was leaning against the rail while the doctor was trying to locate whoever he was looking for. Jasmine took the necklace out of her pocket, it had cooled down by now, and she put it back on. The Doctor glanced at her, an interested look at his face, apparently he was looking at the necklace. He couldn't see it properly though.

"A Keyah." Jasmine stared blankly.  
"Alien… They share a planet with the Dertah, Gashalunadinus Tsjishivadiaranikalium." Jasmine blinked, causing the doctor to laugh.  
"They can reverse the Dertah attack, with a kiss."  
"That's so sleeping beauty-ish." The doctor laughed.  
"The author based it on the aliens."  
"Seriously?" The doctor nodded and Jasmine laughed.

There was a silence while the Doctor was doing things on his screen again, but judging by his annoyed look, it wasn't going very well. A bleeping sound came from the screen.

"Can you grow wings by any chance?" Jasmine looked at him as if he was crazy. "Can you?"  
"No!"  
"Can he?" the doctor pointed at Patrick.  
"No." Jasmine blinked, frowning.  
"Damn." His face became blank. "Can I?"

He started patting his back, looking for wings or something out of which they would grow. Jasmine quirked a brow.

"I'm trying to scan for Keyahs, I can do that with the powder, but it either points to a Dertah, or here."  
"Maybe it senses the arrows?" suggested Jasmine. "Can't you go to that planet and get one? I mean, what if there's no Keyah on earth?"  
"That's a brilliant plan." he said, his face clearing up, then it became dark again. "They're not exactly human friendly. And when there's a Dertah, there's always a Keyah not too far away. But it was a good plan. You're clever."

Jasmine smiled proudly and then her phone started ringing and she picked it up, answering.

"Hi Ty."  
_"Just calling to see how you're doing."_ came Tyson's voice at the other side of the line.  
_"Got your brother back yet?"_  
"No, we have to find someone but we can't find them."  
_"Who?"_ there was a silence at Jasmine's side of the line. _"Something alien? I might be able to help, you know."  
_"I don't think…"  
_"Jaz, I've calmed down. It sank in."_  
"Alright." she clicked the call away and turned to the Doctor.  
"Ty might be able to help."

She gave him the address and the Doctor pushed some buttons. Jasmine was prepared for it this time and she was already holding the rail so she wouldn't fall.  
As they stopped there was a scream from outside and the breaking of glass. Jasmine hurried outside and found they had ended up in the middle of a living room, Tyson's living room.

"Mrs. Zedekiah!" Jasmine hurried over to the fainted woman.  
"Another Dertah attack?" the Doctor stepped out after her.  
"More like Doctor attack. She fainted."  
"Doctor!" came the angry voice of Tyson as he hurried to his mum.  
"Hmm, maybe not the best place to park…"

The Doctor said casually with his hands in his pockets. Tyson shot him a look and the Doctor went back inside, presumably to park it somewhere else. Tyson's mum started waking up now and she immediately stared at where the TARDIS had been, but it was gone. There was the sound of the back door, then the Doctor came in.

"I don't suppose that flower bed was withered already?"  
Tyson groaned and hurried past him, to look out of the window. Of all the places the Doctor could have chosen to park, he parked it right on top of the flower bed which was obviously crushed.

"Who's he?" asked mrs. Zedekiah suspiciously, not noticing the box in her garden.  
"He came here to talk to Ty. Extraterrestrial research and all that." explained Jasmine.  
"Yes, right." The Doctor grinned broadly. "Show me your stuff!"

Reluctantly Tyson showed him the way to his room, followed by Jasmine. Tyson turned on his computer while the Doctor looked around the room.

"I'm going to take a walk." said Jasmine. "Call me when you find something."  
"What do you know about me?" asked the Doctor after Jasmine had left.  
"Enough." Ty simply said. "I know for a fact though that you're always surrounded by deaths, and I don't want you dragging Jaz into that."

The Doctor looked at him for a couple of seconds; it wasn't exactly like he was doing it on purpose. And, Jasmine had chosen to follow him back to his spaceship. He didn't mention this.

"Then why are you helping me?"  
"I'm not. I'm helping Jasmine."

Tyson looked back at the screen. The Doctor frowned slightly and watched what he was doing. He was typing some things on a search engine, hesitantly, like he hadn't got a clue what to type. And he didn't, he didn't know what he was looking for.

"What am I looking for anyway?" Tyson asked after some moments of useless typing.  
"Well, I'm not the one who said you could help me." Tyson shot him a look. "Extraterrestrial sleeping beauty?" He suggested.

There were some result on that one, but most of them were the stories. Then Tyson found one; it explained that one year previous to writing sleeping beauty there had been aliens, the same as the Doctor and Jasmine encountered or at least they were described like that. It explained what the people knew about them. The Doctor put his glasses on to read the page, a frown on his face.

"Nothing I didn't already know." he stared at the screen, thinking. "Try Dertah." nothing. "Keyah?" still nothing. The Doctor sighed; he wasn't even sure what exactly he wanted Tyson to look for. "Never mind, you can't help me. I'm wasting time." with that, he walked out of the room.  
"What about Jasmine?" Tyson knew Jasmine would probably want to help.  
"Got no time to wait for her."

It was then that there came a scream from outside, clearly hearable through the open window. Tyson ran towards it, followed by the Doctor. As they looked down they saw Jasmine, and a Dertah. A car was honking as a sign it wanted to pass. Tyson hurried outside, followed by the Doctor.

"That makes four times you've crossed my path." The creature said in a raspy voice, taking Jasmine aback. She hadn't expected it to be able to talk, especially not English.

"You won't escape this time!" Jasmine blinked, not even noticing Tyson running towards her.  
"Jasmine, stay away from it." The Doctor warned her.  
"It's..." Jasmine didn't finish her sentence, because the Dertah aimed its bow.  
"You will not stand in my way again!"

It fired and Jasmine let out a scream. She could hear Tyson gasp next to her and it was like everything had frozen, including herself. And everything around her was blurry, except the arrow which was clear and in her line of vision, flying towards her. The Doctor pushed Jasmine aside and they both hit the ground. The Doctor climbed to his feet, staring intently at the creature.

"You again!" It rasped.

It shot another arrow as the Doctor took a silver thing with blue on the top out of his pocket. The arrow hit it before the Doctor could do something and it flew out of the Doctor's hand. The Doctor ducked for it as the Dertah shot another arrow. He was in time to pick it up, but not in time to stop the arrow. And as the Dertah flew off with a scream Jasmine gasped as she saw the arrow hit the Doctor. He fell backwards and hit the ground, unconscious. Jasmine breathed deeply as she looked up at the creature, blinking. Tyson kneeled down beside the Doctor and was about to pull the arrow out. Jasmine came to her senses and stopped him, pulling his hands back. She kept silent and looked up at the sky with a worried look at her face.

"Where's a miracle when you need one?" She sighed and Tyson said nothing.

Half an hour later, after calling Mrs. Zedekiah to help them get the Doctor inside, they were sitting inside the TARDIS. The Doctor had left it open but they knew they couldn't fly it even if they wanted to. The doctor was lying on the couch inside the living room, while Patrick still lay on the chairs. Tyson was leaning against the console in the middle and Jasmine was sitting at the floor next to Patrick, her eyes closed. They were both clueless, even though Jasmine hadn't explained to Tyson what she was looking for.

"Are we going to sit here all day, moping about?"  
"Yes." came Jasmine's answer.  
"He wouldn't want you to. He would've trusted you to fix this."

Even though Tyson didn't really like the Doctor, he knew they had to fix this, not for his sake, but for Jasmine's sake, and more important, that of everyone in the city. It seemed though that Jasmine had already given up, and that was just not her style. He knew that because he'd known her his whole life, since they were very little. She had always been a bit strange sometimes, but he'd blamed it on Jasmine's father - just as a joke -, but she was his best friend and he wouldn't ever let her down. That was also one of the reasons he was helping her now, instead of still freaking out about the inside of this spaceship.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked helplessly.

Tyson frowned, it wasn't how Jasmine usually handled things. It wasn't how she did things. It worried him, yet he knew she'd been through so much. She had lost her father, her mother, her uncle was in the hospital and now she was almost losing her brother. It was a lot to handle but Tyson knew they could get through it, together. With his knowledge of aliens and Jasmine's logic they would figure it out. If only she would see that.

"Talk to me. Tell me everything you know." Tyson said determinedly.  
"The doctor told me that he was looking for someone who can reverse the affect of the poison the arrow contains. The poison would cause rage and make the person go mad. The Dertah, that's what these bird things are called, feed on the rage" Jasmine started explaining. "He didn't know where to find this person. They're called Keyahs, from some planet I can't even pronounce!" she laughed in a way that told Tyson it was hard to believe. "They reverse the Dertah attack with a kiss..." she stopped, thinking.  
"Anything else?" Tyson asked, wondering. Jasmine shook her head, but then remembered something.  
"He said that the search kept coming up on either this spaceship or a Dertah."  
"So, maybe it's hidden in here?" Tyson suggested as Jasmine got to her feet.

Jasmine looked around the room, it was huge in itself, but at the side was another door, presumably leading into other rooms. It wouldn't be nice to search through them, and they didn't even know how many rooms this spaceship contained. After all, she had never imagined the box to be so big from the inside, but then again, it _was_ alien. Tyson turned to the console in the middle and walked around it, frowning slightly. He pressed some buttons, but nothing happened. Then he took a lever and pulled it down. Nothing seemed to happen, but then...

"All systems closing down." said a voice from somewhere. And all the lights in the Tardis faded.  
"Oops." said Tyson with a look of guilt, but no one could see it because of the darkness.  
"Idiot!" Jasmine said to Tyson.

She could only see the outlines of his body in the darkness and she grabbed his hand, dragging him along as she felt for anything that might indicate the way out. She kind of knew where she had to go, but as she had suspected she bumped into the railing. She gasped as the air was knocked out of her and she felt Tyson's hand squeeze hers slightly, as if he was frightened. Jasmine moved her hand over the railing until it bent off, that was where the exit would be. She carefully walked towards it and let go of Tyson's hand. She then pushed her way through the door, relieved as she saw the daylight. Though before Tyson was outside the door closed itself, locking Tyson in. He knocked on the door after he tried to open it. Jasmine trying the same thing, but it seemed to be stuck. She took a few breaths, trying not to panic.

"Ty, I will get you out! Don't worry."

But she was worried herself. She had no clue how to get him out, and no clue what to do about this whole situation. She slid down against the door of the blue box and buried her head in her hands, but she didn't cry or anything. She was just trying to get her head clear so she could think about what she could do. The Doctor'd know. Even though she had just met him and even though he hadn't had a clue on how to solve it, he'd know what to do. Her intuition on what people were like had always been stronger than other people's.  
That's why she got to her feet and walked into the house, hoping Mrs. Zedekiah was still upstairs. She had gone upstairs after they'd put the Doctor on the couch. Unfortunately Mrs. Zedekiah had come down and was vacuum cleaning in the living room. She looked up once Jasmine entered and smiled.

"Where's Tyson?" She asked, above the sounds of the vacuum cleaner.  
"Outside." she quickly spoke, maybe too quickly as she received a frown from Mrs. Zedekiah.

Fortunately the woman went on doing what she had been doing. Jasmine walked passed her and towards the Doctor, but she stopped a couple of feet from him. It seemed as if he was asleep, the arrow still stuck in his arm. That had caused a lot of question from Mrs. Zedekiah, mostly why she couldn't pull it out and help him, but apparently she had dismissed it right now. Seeing as how she was busy. It was a bit of a weird sight, especially since there was no blood. It seemed so surreal, yet it was as real as could be.  
Jasmine reached inside her pocket and took out the silvery blue thing the Doctor had used to scare the Dertah away. She had picked it up when they'd brought the Doctor back inside. She couldn't figure out what it was, or how to get it to work. Even if she did get it to work, she wouldn't know what to do with it. She sighed and put it back into her pocket, looking down at the Doctor.  
Then she noticed something; the necklace, her necklace, was hanging down, held by the Doctor's hand and she felt around her neck. It wasn't there anymore. It was swinging from one side to another and it was glowing a bright red golden colour. She walked towards the Doctor and kneeled down, taking the necklace from his hand. She figured he must've gotten a hold of it when he'd pushed her aside to save her from the Dertah. She held the necklace up to her face. It wasn't hot, nor cold. And it had never glowed like this before. But what was odd most of all, the bird on the front seemed to be moving, flying.

"_The answer lies within you." _a voice said.

It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. From the necklace, from the Doctor and the sky. It was clear what it meant, yet Jasmine couldn't see it. How was it there? She didn't understand at all. How could it be within herself, unless… She looked down at the necklace.

"Me?"

Jasmine blinked a couple of times and put the necklace back at her neck. She had a weird feeling, and her intuition told her to take a chance and try to help the Doctor, and everyone else. She swallowed and looked around, Mrs Zedekiah had apparently gone somewhere else and Tyson was stuck in the Tardis. That meant that no one could see her. She leaned closer to the Doctor. She looked at his motionless face and yet it seemed as if his mouth had curled in a slight grin. She told herself that she was imagining things and planted her lips on top of the Doctor's.  
There was a moment of what seemed to be sparks flying between their mouths and Jasmine closed her eyes. It was as if she felt the next thing that was going to happen and she leaned back. The Doctor gasped and sat up. Even though she had sensed that it was going to happen, she was startled and she jumped slightly backwards. The Doctor casually plucked the arrow out of his arm and smiled the brightest of smiles.

"You figured it out!" Jasmine smiled, proud of herself. It soon vanished.  
"Does this mean that I am… I'm… alien?" Jasmine frowned. The Doctor's smile vanished too.  
"I'm sorry. If it helps, you've always been alien, you just never knew." Jasmine stood up.  
"Yeah, that… totally helped." she quirked her brow.

The Doctor got off the couch and pulled Jasmine in a thankful and comforting hug. Then he released her and looked at her with a serious look.

"We've got some work to do."

He hurried out of the living room into the backyard towards the Tardis. He pushed against the door, but it wouldn't open. He pushed again, frowning as he examined the door. Then he took a key out of his pocket, turning it in the lock. Nothing happened. He took out the key and looked at it, turning it around in his hands. He shook his head, worried now. He then felt into his pockets to find something. Jasmine came out of the living room now and looked at him.

"Where's my sonic screwdriver?" The doctor said more to himself.

Jasmine pulled the silvery device out of her pocket and held it up.

"This?" The Doctor nodded, grinned and then took it. He held it towards the door and it started buzzing.  
"Tyson locked himself in." Jasmine explained.

The doctor turned towards her, quirking his brow. There was a kind of anger in his face too, but he said nothing. The door clicked and the Doctor pushed it open, stuffing the sonic screwdriver in his pocket. Tyson came hurrying towards them, a thankful look at his face. The Doctor shoved past him towards the console. He started pressing some buttons and the systems started up again. The lights flickered on and it seemed that everything was back to normal.

"Doctor, what happens now?" Jasmine asked, walking closer to the console.  
"For starters, he leaves!" the Doctor pointed at Tyson, who was taken aback.

He didn't argue, just shook his head. He gave the Doctor an angry look, yet there was also something behind it, something that was telling the Doctor to be careful, and not for himself, but for Jasmine. Then he looked at Jasmine with a look that told her good luck. He turned around and walked out of the Tardis, slamming the door shut behind him as he left. Jasmine blinked and looked at the Doctor. Somehow, she understood why he'd done it. Tyson had managed to turn everything off and lock himself in.

"Now…" the Doctor turned around to look at Patrick and Jasmine immediately understand what he meant.  
"Oh no! No way!" she crossed her arms, determinedly. There was no way she was going to kiss her brother.  
"You have to. That is if you ever want him back."  
"I'm not going to kiss my brother! Who thought of that anyway?!"  
"For Keyahs it's different, kissing doesn't mean the same that it does to you. Kissing for them is like shaking someone's hand to you."

Jasmine swallowed, looking desperately at her brother. Though she knew it was the only way and she kneeled down beside him. She looked at the Doctor, furrowing her brow.

"Do you mind?"

He turned his head away, his hands at his back, casually looking anywhere but at Jasmine. Jasmine leaned over and the Doctor turned his head back, looking. She quickly kissed him on the lips, this kiss was shorter than the one she'd given the Doctor. Patrick gasped and sat up, while Jasmine had kissed Patrick, the Doctor had pulled the arrow out. Patrick seemed confused, very unlike the Doctor had been when he'd woken up.

"What happened? Where am I?"  
"You blacked out." said the Doctor, not entirely lying.

Jasmine was glad the Doctor didn't tell him what really happened. She stood up and turned around, walking around the console, lost in thoughts. So, what was she supposed to do now? Kiss everyone that had been hit by the Dertah? Even though the Doctor had told her it was different, it wasn't for her. She was a human, she felt human and she had been raised human. Being told she was an alien didn't change anything about that. Or so she thought. Suddenly she heard the door of the box being slammed closed and she turned around, startled.

"What did you tell him?" she hadn't heard anything of the conversation.  
"Nothing. That's why he was so angry." Jasmine sighed.  
"We've got work to do." announced the Doctor, and he nodded to the old man, who was also still lying in the Tardis.  
"You have got to be kidding me."

He walked towards the console and pressed some buttons, something bleeped on his screen and he pulled a lever. The glass tube in the middle started moving, and the Tardis started shaking. Jasmine, taken by surprise, grabbed onto something before she fell over and the Doctor grinned at her. Reluctant, she walked to the old man. It all seemed so surreal. This wasn't her life. She was just an eighteen year old student, who loved astrology and hanging out with her best friend, just going to university soon. And in one day, her whole life had been turned upside down with the arrival of a stranger.

She had to admit though that there was some excitement in it. There was life out there, other civilizations, living their life probably the same as them; oblivious. And just a few of them were living amongst humans, like her. Except she had never known who she really was, and the Dertah probably did. He came here, to kill, cause rage. And she was supposed to reverse everything it had done. She wasn't sure if that's what she wanted, but she felt like she had no choice.

The Tardis stopped and Jasmine held on to the old man so he wouldn't fall over. He'd waken up, thanks to her, and he'd asked some questions. She had thought it was going to be hard to answer them, but it wasn't at all that hard. He'd believed everything she said, even her lies about where they were, because obviously she couldn't tell anyone the truth. They let the man out somewhere he could get back home alone and the Doctor and Jasmine took off again, to the next victim. Jasmine had no clue how many victims there were, but most of them were probably a bit more lively than her last three.

And she was right; the next one was throwing stuff around in his house. His wife was trying to calm him down, talking to him, but he wouldn't have any of it. He simply kept throwing things to her, and against walls, simply because she wouldn't let him out of the house. The woman was terrified, but Jasmine thought that she was also brave. The Doctor had managed to lead her out of the house and Jasmine, after some blows at her arms, stomach and head, she managed to slam the arrow into his arm. She had brought one for precaution, because the Doctor had warned her that they wouldn't be out cold.

Jasmine found, against her own liking, that there were a lot of victims, and also a lot of distressed family. They didn't have time to calm or comfort everyone, which is why they, or rather, the Doctor send them all to the hospital. He said he had a friend there, Jasmine didn't ask about this, mostly because he wanted to get on. They didn't stop 'working'; the Doctor would track someone down with his screens and stuff and they would go out and find them. Jasmine would cure them in turn.

It frightened her as to how much damage the Dertah had already done, and there were even some people they weren't able to cure. They found one or two dead people and a couple of them who were too far gone to be cured. Jasmine wouldn't give up though, and it was like giving someone mouth to mouth to try to keep them alive when you knew it was too late. It even meant that for every person who was too far gone or deceived, there were other people hurt by them.

"What's the point?!" Jasmine screamed after one too many deaths.  
"You can't save them all. You never can." said the Doctor as he tried to calm her down.

That didn't work though, it only made her more angry and she wouldn't control her anger until he told her that they'd better save the lives they would still be able to save instead of standing there, being angry with him. After a couple of long hours, the Doctor and Jasmine were walking back to the Tardis. Jasmine heaved a deep sigh and looked up at the sky, it was getting dark, the street lights were already on.

"I think today I've kissed more guys than in my whole life." noted Jasmine.  
"Not to forget girls." Jasmine pulled a face.  
"And aliens." Jasmine added grinning. Then the look on her face changed.  
"What about the Dertah, Doctor?"

The Doctor put his hands in his pocket, looking up. There was a look of thought on his face, but he didn't have to think about it.

"It'll come looking for you. It'll challenge you, and you have to battle it."  
"What if I don't?" Jasmine wondered.  
"According to the Gashalunadian laws, you'll have to let it have its way. And it'll kill."  
"So, basically, I have no choice?" The Doctor shrugged and Jasmine sighed.

They hadn't even reached the Tardis yet when there was a screech from up above. And only a couple of feet away, the Dertah landed. It's bow was on its back, together with its arrows. And as it stood on the ground, Jasmine could see that it really was smaller than her; it didn't reach above her chest. The Doctor had stepped aside, leaving Jasmine directly opposite of the Dertah.

"I challenge you, Keyah!" It said in a raspy voice.

Jasmine stared at it, if she didn't accept, she would have a lot of murders on her conscience, if she did she would have to battle it, and she wasn't even sure how to. How did those aliens battle? Swords? Fists? Arrows? Well, she had no arrows. She glanced at the Doctor, who nodded reassuringly. She stood tall, clenching her fists. She tried to suppress her shaking voice and sound confident.

"And I accept!"

Jasmine mouthed to the Doctor 'how?'. She was sure the Dertah was aware of all the rules of their battle and it frightened her. The Dertah let out a laugh as it stood watching her. Jasmine looked back at it, into its eyes. Suddenly there was an image in her head, like a thought, but it wasn't hers. It was the image of someone dying, blood dripping out of a wound, covered in blood all over. Cries of pain could be heard, and it felt like she was there. It was like it poked around her whole brain, like a stinging headache and she doubled over, grasping her head.

"Think of love! Project it into its head!" The Doctor told her. "Try to suppress the images it sends you!"

The Dertah laughed and the image changed, it was a scenery of a gang, battling something out. Guns were fired, knifes plunged into one another, screaming and hatred. Jasmine was sitting her knees, screaming, still grasping her head. It was horrible, and all that time the Dertah was laughing, probably at what an easy target she was. The Doctor still stood beside her, telling her what she had to do. That she had to focus, but she couldn't. The pain was unbearable. It wasn't like normal telepathy if that even existed, it was worse than that.

Jasmine's thoughts flashed, and she thought about all the victims that would die if she wouldn't concentrate now, if she'd let it win so easily. Jasmine closed her eyes, clenching her fists. She tried to block out the image he was sending her. The stinging in her head slightly stopped, but it was still there. She was able to focus a little better now and she thought about love, about when Tyson's little brother was born, when Tyson had held him in his arms. That was the first thing she thought of. The Dertah screeched, grasping his head like Jasmine had done.

In return the Dertah send her an image of a car accident, cars crashing into one another, people swinging forwards in their seats. Some of them hitting their heads against the front glass. Jasmine felt the stinging pain again and she was trying her best to block it out. She let her mind slip, wondering how she would ever be able to survive this. The pain got worse and she tried to concentrate again, trying to send more images of love into the Dertah's mind. Dates, people holding hands and kisses. It seemed to work as the Dertah had doubled over too.

The images it sent into her mind grew weaker and they weren't as bad anymore. It still caused her to want to grasp her head, but she refrained herself and tried to concentrate on love, instead of hatred, death and destruction the Dertah was sending her. It was a horrible fight and it was not what she'd ever expected. It was even worse than fighting with fists or swords. Even the Doctor wasn't standing really still, he wanted to do something, to help, but this once he couldn't. It was all up to Jasmine. He knew that if he'd interfered and helped Jasmine, the Dertah would win.

She could feel the Dertah trying to send another picture into her mind and she blocked it with one of her own. Even though she wasn't looking at him, because she had her eyes closed, she knew that the fight was nearly over. At the same time they both sent an image into each other's head. The Dertah's was one of war, bloodshed, murder of innocent people, whereas Jasmine's was one of love, of a wedding, and of a happy loving family. Jasmine screamed as the Dertah's image entered her mind and she clutched her head, falling down on the floor. She could hear the Dertah screaming too, but she couldn't look. The screams faded and she blacked out.

The Doctor was still watching from the sideline as he saw Jasmine lose consciousness, he swallowed and wanted to help her, but he had to wait till it was over. Either ending in Jasmine's death, or the Dertah's. The Dertah screamed, still clutching its head. This time the screams were higher, different from before and the Doctor knew it was the end. The creature's wings started folding, around its body, but it wasn't controlling them itself. As soon as the wings were completely covering the body - which wasn't hard, seeing as the Dertah was small and crouching – it screeched one last time. The black feathers flew up, like a bird being plucked and throwing the feathers into the air. Some of the feathers caught the wind immediately and swooped up, others floating down, covering the ground around the Dertah. Except there was no Dertah, it had disappeared.

The Doctor rushed over towards Jasmine, who lay unconscious on the ground. He lifted her up in his arms, casting one last look at the feathers. He breathed a sigh of relief and looked down on Jasmine's face. It was as if she was asleep, and he knew that her body and mind were exhausted.

"I'm proud of you." he whispered down to her.

Jasmine blinked, opening her eyes slowly. For a moment, she couldn't remember where she was. It took her a couple of minutes to take it in, then found she was in a circular room, there was a console with a tube in the middle, and she remembered. She sat up straight in a swift movement, almost too fast for her head got a little light. Her whole body was aching, but not what her body itself had had to endure, but what her mind had to endure. Her head had stopped throbbing by now, and all that was left were the memories, deep inside her mind, but still so clear.

"'Bout time you woke up. It's nearly morning." Jasmine turned to see the Doctor by the railing, leaning against it.  
"Is everyone alright?" The Doctor nodded.

Everything was back to normal. Apart from the people who had died, who they hadn't been able to save. Jasmine thought back about the last couple of days; her whole world had been turned upside down. That of herself, and that of the people close to her. Her brother was angry with her, her uncle was in the hospital and Tyson, well, she wasn't sure what things were like with him. And now that she thought about it; she wasn't who she'd thought she was. Part of her didn't belong here. And that part wanted to get to know her father. At least find her father, because she had instantly known that it had not been her mother who was alien, but her father. Jasmine's fingers found their way to the necklace around her neck and she clasped it, looking up at the Doctor.

"Doctor, can you show me my planet?"  
"Course I can!"

A bright smile spread over the Doctor's face and he ran to the middle of his spaceship, running around it, pressing buttons, setting coordinates and pulling levers. He pointed to a lever at the other side of the console and Jasmine knew he was intending for her to pull it. Jasmine sprang to her feet and pulled it. As soon as she did, engines started whirring and the glass tube in the middle started moving up and down. The Tardis disappeared as the sun was rising high, announcing morning.


End file.
